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2012 Star-Spangled Banner Bicentennial Silver Dollar Set

Posted on 6/12/2012

The US Mint offers the 2012 Star-Spangled Banner Bicentennial Silver Dollar Set for sale starting June 1, 2012.

[WASHINGTON, DC] — This limited-edition product contains a proof Star-Spangled Banner Silver Dollar, a reproduction of one of Francis Scott Key’s original manuscripts of his poem “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the lyrics to the “Star-Spangled Banner,” and information about our national anthem against colorful artwork depicting the battle between United States and British forces for Fort McHenry. Only 50,000 units will be sold.

On the morning of September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key saw a 42-foot by 30-foot American flag flying over Fort McHenry through clearing smoke caused by a 25-hour British bombardment of Fort McHenry. He was so inspired by the sight that he wrote a verse he called “The Defense of Fort McHenry.” By 1916, these words, sung to the tune of the British melody “To Anacreon in Heaven,” had become so widely popular that they were renamed “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and President Woodrow Wilson ordered they be played at military and naval ceremonies. On March 3, 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a resolution passed by Congress that officially designated “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the national anthem of the United States.